Nomad Overland Rally 2023

Nomad Overland Rally Highlights: Week Four

July 3, 2023 – USA: As the  Nomad Overland Rally nears the halfway mark, Teams are moving full speed ahead in their adventures. Most Teams had gotten a start on their Overland Stages while others were getting close to completing them, creating big differences in point spreads in the Rankings right now. There are only 12 Stages in the event, and “speed” is not a factor, so point-spreads will start to narrow as Teams have to work harder to pick up the remaining available points. This Week Four has seen some big jumps on the Leaderboard with more Teams logging Bonus Missions, too. We were particularly happy to note a rise in the cadence of Stewardship Activities happening across the Rally, as Teams got involved in cleanups and other trail maintenance projects in different parts of the country.

Team 116 Tembruell of Michigan held on to the top position on the Leaderboard this week, but a number of other Teams are starting to catch up. After finishing Nine Overland Stages in two Weeks of travel across Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and North Dakota, Amber and Dave turned their attention to consolidating their lead by methodically getting the maximum Social Media Bonus points for each stage, and beginning to check off Activities with the same sense of purpose. 

Team 123 Roderick and Team 128 Dolbow shot up into second and third place respectively after joining forces to complete their Bonus Mission in the Big Bend National Park in south Texas. Raelynn Roderick drove from Arizona to Texas in her first few Overland Stages last week, and met up with Sheila Dolbow, her Rebelle Rally teammate, in the town of Alpine, Texas, where the two set off for a fabulous adventure in the Big Bend during Week Four. Despite searing heat that reached a “feels-like” index of 120 degrees Fahrenheit they managed to earn the maximum points available for the Bonus Mission.

Roderick and Dolbow completed their Mission over multiple days and spent time exploring a few different sections of the 1,252 square mile National Park (it is bigger than the entire state of Rhode Island), as well as the nearby “ghost town” of Terlingua, then added on a few Overland Stages to explore other trails in the area, finishing their time together with a sunrise run on North County Road, before heading back to Alpine and turning their separate ways. Their “uh oh” moment happened on the way back to Alpine when Roderick ran out of gas! But they were prepared. Dolbow had auxillary gas cans on her Gladiator, and was able to get Roderick enough to reach Alpine’s gas station where they both filled up before heading in opposite directions. Overall, Team 123 and 128 rocked it, locating all their Mission Objectives despite a closed road and the extreme temperatures, while taking care to keep safe and stay hydrated — and they had a blast doing it!

Team 111 Potter also made a nice jump in points after completing a few Stages exploring around Colorado. Lisa Potter has been slowly building up her points with a steady pace of Activities and the PhotoQuest, but in Week Four she really “hit the gas” with her first few Overland Stages in Colorado.  Potter explored some trails around the Arapahoe & Roosevelt National Forest, scouting multiple side trails for potential and found a cool waterfall. She also did some impromptu clean-up work when she encountered trash on the trail. Stage Two saw Potter exploring around the White River National Forest Dillon Ranger District where she found a nice water crossing, and lots of amazing mining history. The area was full of beautiful scenery and cool historical finds.

Team 103 Chasse continued to build momentum following her Bonus Mission in the Kofa National Wildlife Refuge, with the start of her Overland Stages in Arizona this week. Jessica Chasse headed north to higher elevations and set up camp at Mt. Ord, taking some time out to explore around the area. While enjoying the trails, Chasse focused on methodically capturing PhotoQuest items, giving her score a nice boost during Week Four.

This Week also saw Nomad Teams out exploring in California, Iowa, Michigan, Washington, Virginia, North Carolina, Texas, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Utah.  Check out the Week 4 Leaderboard to see how everyone ended the week, or go to the current current Rankings to see how they are doing now.

 

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Check out these updates, or go to the main news page for more articles and information about what is happening around the 2023 edition of the Nomad Overland Virtual Adventure Rally.

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